The Shadow of the Three Moons
by Kazo Sakamari
Summary: Team 8 is sent on a mission that ends up tearing them apart. This story fallows the three seprate paths they take after they break up. Just read it! Please!
1. Chapter 1

Hello there! So this is acutally my first story, but I've been having problems getting it on here for some reason, (the rest worked fine) But anyways, hope you like it! Please review, if you do...you get a slice of cake and ice cream...if you don't...you suck.

And...the dreaded disclaimer...

I don't own Naruto in any way, shape, or form...so sucks for me and Masashi Kishimoto can rule the frickin world for all I care!

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Team 8 sat at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar quietly, none talking, all just eating their ramen.

"I think we should do it." Kiba suddenly said breaking the silence. Hinata's silver eyes glanced over at him quickly and back to her food.

"Are you sure? Tsunade-sama didn't seem to want us to take it." Hinata muttered glancing at Shino to trying to see what he was thinking behind his mirrored glasses.

"Who cares what Tsunade said? Guys, if it gives us more time together than I'd do anything!" Hinata looked at Kiba her silver eyes piercing his muddy brown ones.

"I'll do it." She said her voice stronger this time. She smiled gently at Shino, her eyes silently pleading with him Akamaru who had been taking a nap picked up at Hinata pleading and turned to stare at Shino.

"Fine, let's go tell Tsunade. She'll be thrilled." Sarcasm was just dripping off Shino's comment as he placed money on the table for his half eaten bowl of ramen and began walking toward the Hokage's tower. Hinata a placed some money on the table and hurried after Shino.

"We'll do it" Tsunade looked up from a large stack of paper work. She stared at them for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, be at the gate at six o'clock sharp tomorrow. Shinuze will give you the details." Hinata glanced at her teammates once again, to see their reactions. Neither one did anything more than nod at the new information. Turning to leave she heard Tsunade's voice.

"Hinata, stay for a moment please." Shino looked from Tsunade to Hinata and then walked past her out to where Kiba was waiting.

"Hinata, I just want you to know that I have done everything that I could possibly think of to change your fathers mind." Hinata smiled. This is what Tsunade wanted to talk about.

"My father will not be swayed from his decision Hokage-sama; I thought you would have realized that by now."

"Yes, I have but what he is planning goes against everything I believe-" Hinata cut her short.

"I know what my father is doing is wrong, but I have to comply with his wishes; if anyone could have stopped this…they are long gone." Hinata voice was strained but it had an icy quality to it.

"Thank you for your concern…but I don't need it."

Kiba and Shino were waiting for her having already been briefed on the mission.

"What did Tsunade want?" Kiba asked.

"She just wanted to know how stuff was with Neji," Hinata stared at her shoes pointedly hoping Kiba would not pursue the subject further. Kiba looked over Hinata carefully than nodded.

"Come on lets go get the stuff." Hinata said smiling at her teammates.

"Oh Shit! My Mom leaves for a mission in twenty minutes! I have to go!" Kiba said jumping up. He looked at his teammates guilty. Akamaru jumped up his tail wagging and was already pulling on Kiba's shirt trying to drag him away.

"Go ahead Kiba, Shino and I can get the stuff." Hinata said. Kiba didn't look all that convinced.

"Are you sure that you two don't need adult supervision?" Kiba asked staring at Shino's hand that had snaked it way around Hinata's waist. His words were joking but his eyes were deadly serious. Then Kiba smiled again, before dashing away with Akamaru, giving a small wave goodbye. Shino looked down at Hinata, "Can I walk you home?"

Hinata stood outside the door to her Fathers study; she knocked twice on the door before she heard him say "Come in." The study was a nice room, but somehow Hinata never liked it much, the dark wooden desk and the royal blue walls, the black framed pictures of her family. Not a single person was smiling. Hinata couldn't understand it, but she hated this room, for no reason other than this was where her Father was.

"Father I'm going to be leaving tomorrow for a mission, it should take around two months at the longest." He looked up from the stack of papers.

"Why are you telling me this? It will not overlap with the wedding, that's not for five months." He said coldly looking back down at the papers. Apparently his daughter was not interesting enough.

"I-I just thought you might want to know." Hinata stuttered only in the presence of father now. He was the only person who could still intimidate her.

"Well I know now, Hinata. Leave, I have work to do.' He gestured with his hand for her to leave. She stared at him for a moment before hurrying out the door.

Walking down the hall to her bedroom she saw Neji sitting on her bed waiting for her. "Hinata, I've tried to make this as normal as possible for you" He said fingering the silver band on her finger.

"I got down on my knee to present it to you, even though you said no." His voice broke as he pleaded with her to accept what he had done, pleaded with her to throw away the chance to find true love.

"Why do you still run away from it? You're only going to come back from that mission to find that the wedding is closer than ever." She stared at him, his long dark brown hair, stunning silver eyes, his strong hands; any girl would gladly take him in a second. But Hinata Hyuuga, no Hinata wanted Shino, or at least she did at the moment.

"Neji, I'm not running away. I'm spending quality time with my teammates…before they stop being my teammates." Hinata took her hand from Neji and walked away down the hall toward the kitchen.

"Hinata please accept this, for me." She stopped by kitchen door and looked back at Neji. The man, who had loved her, tried to kill her, hated her, and now was begging her to love him again. Her father asked him to do this, asked him, not ordered him. 'He could have said no!' She thought. Slowly Hinata shook her head and closed the door.

"Fuck arranged marriages." Hinata muttered to herself as she heard Neji walk away.

Lying in bed that night Hinata found she could not sleep. Neji words kept coming back to her; she couldn't run away from this, but she wasn't trying to. Was she? Eventually sleep crept over her and before she knew it she was standing at the gate, side by side with her teammates for what would be know as the last mission that Team 8 would ever have. Years later when Hinata looked back on that moment, when she took that step that signified that start of the mission. She would find that she did not regret it, not for herself anyway, for it worked out better for her than she could have ever guessed. She regretted it for Kiba and Shino, because she doesn't know. She doesn't know what happened to them, only to herself.

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Yep! The first chapter is done! This one of the few stories that I actually have a story line for...so I might acutally finish this one! Don't get your hopes up though...

Yeah, I wrote this late at night soooo it might suck...

Please review if you want that cake! and please be nice! ^_^


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! Second chapter is up! It might be a little short but you know...

and soo 'mind control is on' Review! 'this is subliminal messaging' Review!

disclaimer...Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto...while the rest of us have to suffer as he butchers the story line...great, just great.

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Darkness swirled around Hinata. She looked up into Shino's black glasses.

"Hinata, I care about you." He faltered,

"A lot." Hinata smiled at his words. They were kind, not like the one he used to issue at her back when they first met.

"I care about you too Shino." She said softly, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"Hinata, I-I love you." He let the sentence hang in the air. So far not many of the rookie team romances had worked out, Sakura and Sasuke had been a disaster, so had Ino and Shikamaru, and no one really knows what is going on between Team Guy. Hinata and Shino were the exception. This was not the first time someone had told Hinata that they loved her, but the last person who had done that was now dead. It had been when Hinata was seven years old, just before her mother died. Hinata barely remembered it, she still wished her father would say that to her too, just like he used to, but that was when mother was alive. Now with Shino, he loved her. Now Hinata knew. She wouldn't be alone.

Shino leaned in toward Hinata, kissing her softly, but passionately. Surprised at the sudden movement it took a second for Hinata to kiss back. When the two finally broke apart, Hinata laid her head on Shino's warm chest and they stood like that, not speaking for a long time, before going back to camp.

It was about two o'clock in the morning when Team 8 entered the base. It was the headquarters of a secret organization; of course it was no longer secret, seeing as an elite team had just infiltrated it. There hadn't been much information on the actual organization, just blueprints of the base. This had worried Hinata at first, but Kiba had managed to quell her worries. The little information there had been said that this was an organization that didn't play by the rules. It had trained its few elite operatives in the use of multiple types of guns. This had worried Hinata too, as a matter of fact, it still worried Hinata. What if they were caught? What if this or that happened? Hinata had been thinking what if all night, every night.

The main part of the mission went according to plan. They got in to the base just fine. They got all the information that they needed from the computer main hard drive. They erased all traces that they had been there from the security cameras and computers.

It was only when Team 8 was out of range of the sensors that Hinata calmed down a little. Now they had completed the hard part of the mission, all they had left to do was return home.

Sneaking out was simple, easy even. Hinata let out a small sigh as they reached the final stretch, 'almost there' she thought and smiled to herself. Shino pushed the metal door open, a loud crack shot through the air and Hinata winced.

"Through the door! Get through the door!" Shino yelled as bullets began to rain down on them. The three of them stumbled out into the back alley of the complex, more shots rained down as snipers got a visual of them.

"Get to the dumpsters!" Kiba yelled as he dashed to find cover by the large dumpsters. Shino shot in the opposite direction, quickly finding cover in a small cutout. Hinata moved back into the cover of the door they had just left, she sank into the shadows activating her byakugan. Kiba motioned to her to move but Hinata shook her head. If she moved in any direction they would have a clear shot of her.

"Hinata-" Kiba was cut off as another round of bullets came flying toward him.

"You have to move!" Shino called from his own hiding place.

"If anyone comes through that door they'll shoot you!" Shino called as he darted to a safer hiding place.

"I know!" Hinata yelled back.

"I can't move without getting shot, they'll have a clear shot for all vital organs!" Her voice showed no signs of worry, just disappointment. Kiba and Shino seemed to exchange a look for a moment before more bullets came raining down.

"Hinata!" Kiba called, she focused her attention on him, and he gave her a shaky smile and held up a hand. Countdown to zero. He slowly began to count down his fingers. Hinata tensed as he got to one, she knew she was supposed to run. Finally Kiba put his last finger down.

"Goodbye Hinata!" He yelled as he stepped out of his hiding place. He was attracting all the attention to himself so she could get into the clear.

Hinata ran like she had never run before. Still with her byakugan activated she watched as behind her the bullets ripped through Kiba's flesh from all sides until he fell to the ground, a bloody heap. She watched as Shino leaped from his own hiding place, his bug's flying in a deadly swarm towards his attackers. Still he wasn't fast enough for the bullets soon riddled his body as well. He never had a chance. 'None of us did,' Hinata thought. 'This was a suicide mission.'

'Their dead,' she thought. 'I saw the life leave their bodies,'

'Why should I even bother to run anymore?'

'They wanted me to live, or else they wouldn't have died.' A tear ran down her check.

'Run, run for your life Hinata.'

'Run and never look back.'

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Tada! The second chapter is done! Finished! And now you may NOT...and I repeat YOU MAY NOT go on to the Third Chapter until you Review!

Hope you liked it! =)


	3. Chapter 3

And sooo we are now on to the Third Chapter...if you are reading this then it means you actually like the story...or you don't give a crap and are just out of stuff to read...(I don't really care either way...haha)

Right then! Down to buisness...disclaimer...

Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto not me...if I did own Naruto I would not be reduced to writing fanfiction...and Hinata and Kiba would be together...while Naruto cries his eyes out...there.

* * *

Three weeks had gone by. Hinata hadn't stopped running. Every day, every minute. Their faces flashed before her pale eyes. Her pale skin had ashy tinge to it now. She didn't stop to sleep; she ate when she was hungry and drank when she needed to. They were tracking her. She was sure of it.

She had to keep running.

She was afraid. For the first time in years. She was afraid of what would happen if she stopped running.

'I can't stop,' she would think to herself when she got tired. 'What would they think? If I stopped? If I gave in?'

'They would never forgive me.'

Eventually though Hinata realized that she couldn't keep running forever. No one could run forever.

And so that's how it all started.

There was a small town on the outskirts of the Waterfall boundaries. It had only a small road going in that connected it to the rest of the country. By the time Hinata arrived at that town she had already formulated a plan. The only hard part now was executing it. But as it turned out, when your desperate the a lot of stuff isn't so hard anymore.

The plan was simple, all Hinata had to do was gather enough supplies to make it work. She was planning on making a permanent doppelganger; she and Kiba had done a report on permanent doppelgangers once when they were still in the Academy. They weren't all that well known and Hinata had never attempted to make one before, but she was sure she had the knowledge to do it. It took a fair amount of time and supplies, but 'I could make it work.' She thought. Once she gathered everything she began to work. It took five days before she was sure she had a lookalike copy of herself. The only difference was that this copy had never been alive. 'It took years to gather enough chakra in order to turn the doppelganger into a breathing replica of herself.' Hinata remember from her report. And she didn't want that, who would? All she needed was a body that she could use to fake her death.

Once she was ready she went out into the woods, far away from the town and she slit the throat of her doppelganger. She left it there, and made sure somebody was bound to find it.

One week later she was over the border line and in a new country. She had chopped of all her hair, and gotten blue contacts to cover her unnaturally white eyes. She began to relax, no one was following her anymore and she had begun to hear rumors about the dead body of the female ninja that had tried to escape the Waterfall terrorist group. Still she had to keep her guard up, but no one was tracking her anymore. She was safe, for the time being anyway.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw their faces. She knew she should have gone back to Konoha, but there was nothing to go back to. Sure, she could go back to Neji and gotten hitched and turn into the next baby machine of the Hyuga household. Without Kiba and Shino there though, she didn't think she could live like that. Without Kiba and Shino, Hinata was nothing. Nothing at all.

Jumping from branch to branch, Hinata's eyes scanned the forest. The darkness seemed to press against her; she had been traveling for thirty five hours. Her now blue eyes started to drift closed, her breathing was heavy and sweat dipped from her brow. For a moment her foot slipped and she was sent tumbling to the ground far below. Branches and leaves cut her face and arms as she fell and only in the last seconds did she manage to avoid disaster. Grabbing a sturdy branch as she passed she dropped in a straight line toward the ground and rolled. Standing up, Hinata surveyed the damage she had done while brushing off dirt and pulling leaves from her hair. Smiling she realized that she had fallen at a perfect camp site. She could hear a soft trickle of water coming from the west. 'Perfect' she thought as she began to set up camp. Just as she was laying out her bed mat she felt something under her foot go taunt. It took a moment for her to realize what she had stepped on.

'A trip wire?' With a sudden burst of energy she didn't know she had Hinata twisted out of the way of the needles that suddenly came shooting out of the bushes. 'Great camping spot huh?' she muttered to herself as she activated her byakugan. Even with the colored contacts her byakugan worked perfectly. Scanning the area she picked up on a slight blur of movement through the trees. She focused on the spot and with a slight blur of her surroundings she could make out the black and white image of a man's face. Moving quickly she watched as the man cautiously moved to the spot where she had just been. 'Was I wrong? Are they still tracking me?'Quietly she cursed to herself, 'I thought I had been careful. I was sure no one was tracking me.' The man carefully stepped around the pile of branches she had broken from her fall. Ghosting silently after him, or so she thought for just as she was about to grab him she stepped on a crunchy leaf.

"Shit," Hinata cursed as the man's eyes widened and he began to turn around. Pulling her kunai from her pouch she grabbed the man and pressed it against the man's neck.

"Why are you still following me?"

"You're the one with the knife against my neck." With that he twisted out of her grasp and pulled out his own kunai blocking her strike. He landed a fast blow to her midsection while trying to cut off her air supply. Hinata dodged another attack as she pushed her chakra into her fingertips, focusing on his tenketsu she struck, a perfect blow to his chest. She followed up with two more strikes rendering his left arm useless. His breathing was heavy as he tried to land a blow on her with his one good arm. Hinata smiled as she easily dodged his attacks and tackled him. Pinning the man to the ground she held the kunai to his neck, a thin line of red appearing.

"Who the hell are you?" Despite his situation he smiled.

"I could ask you the same thing; you're the one who has me pinned with a useless arm."

"Why are you following me?"

"Oh, but I'm not. I just happened to be here when you 'dropped in,' excused the pun."

"S-so you're not from waterfall?"

"Waterfall? No, I'm from Suna. Why? Did you fuck somebody up over there?" Hinata's eyes widened, how could somebody be so calm in a situation like this?

"J-just who are you?"

"Hmm? I was just about to ask you the same thing." He gave her another charming smile as the line of red on his neck grew larger.

"Give me a name." Hinata's soft voice grew weary, the exhaustion she was feeling beginning to show.

"Niko. You?" Hinata's eyes grew wide. A name, she couldn't give him her real name. 'think Hinata, think!' her mind was reeling names going through her head faster than it took to pick one. 'Wait, remember the mission Sakura got where she was undercover with you that one time…Mikako…that was the name.'

"Mikako."

"Well then Mikako, how about you let me go. I pose no threat to you, while you obviously pose a very high threat to me."

"How do I know you won't kill me in my sleep?"

"Do I have any reason to?"

"Do you Niko?"

"No, not yet anyway." He smiled again as Hinata released her grip on his arms. Sitting up he sighed.

"Now that's better isn't it? Would you care to stay the night, seeing as you already set up camp in my camping spot?"

"Umm,""

"Yes, I insist. You will stay here, you look exhausted and besides I already made dinner."

"B-but,"

"Talk later. Eat now." He said pulling out some smoked fish, rubbing his neck.

"I always make enough for two, old habits."

"Why are you here if you're really from Suna?"

"Well, that's a long story that you probably don't care about."

"Ah…you read my mind…"

"Now here is something interesting to talk about. Who are you running from?"

"W-what makes you think I'm r-running," Hinata frowned. 'Shit, I'm stuttering again.'

"Hmm…I wonder. Was it the sprinting trough the trees, or maybe it was you interrogating me, asking me why I was still 'following you,' I wonder, what _did _you do in Waterfall?"

"Y-you're in over your head…s-stop asking stupid questions." He just smiled and laughed.

"I knew I was in over my head long before you showed up Ms. Mikako. Anyway, I'll see you in the morning." He wiped his hands on his pants and climbed into his sleeping bag.

"G'night." Hinata watched as within seconds he fell asleep. 'What's so bad about this?' she thought, as she climbed into her own sleeping bag. 'He could turn out to be useful,'

* * *

And good job 'pat on the back' you have just won a million dollars! and no...yeah you just finished reading my sucky story...so at least you accomplished something!

And now your job as a reader of is to review my story! or not...you could not review it but then you would just be asshole...


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, Fourth Chapter! You're making progress! Great! I on the other hand have realised a fatal flaw in my story line and so now I'm back to having no story line! Yay for me right?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...if I did marshmallows would totally exist over there...

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Morning came quickly enough, as Hinata or now Mikako opened her eyes to the bright sunrise and the smell of smoke. Sitting up quickly she glanced around only to see Niko sitting by the camp fire.

"Ah, the sleepyhead awakes." He gave her that charming smile.

"You know, I've been thinking, seeing as were both running from something, it would be best for us to travel together."

"I told you I'm not running from anyone." Hinata murmured, still to sleepy to get annoyed.

"Sure, because I totally believe you." He laughed a cold laugh, as Hinata tried to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"But really, each of our search parties is looking for a single person; if we join up we could be home free, or closer than we are now anyway."

"Y-you don't really want to travel with me, if we ever get caught…"

"But we wouldn't! Together no one will even bother checking us; it's the perfect disguise."

"I-I don't think this is a very good idea…"

"Ah-ha! This is where I beg to differ! It a brilliant idea, we travel in incognito and become citizens of some foreign country and no one will ever find us!" His face was alight with the idea of freedom and all that came with it. But Hinata wasn't so sure,

"Say I did go along with your idea. Where would we go?"

"I don't know the Snow Country…that's far away right?"

"Okay, so we would go to the Snow Country, what then?"

"Well, we would have to become citizens or something, get jobs and start over."

"You have no idea how to start over." Hinata returned to packing up her things, 'Dobe!' she thought 'he has no idea what he's doing!'

"So what? At least I'm trying." Niko's cerulean blue eyes that reminded her so much of Naruto searched her face for any emotion.

"You think I'm not?" Hinata glared at him, 'the idiot, already making assumptions,'

"I never said that…"

"What are you trying to say then?"

"I don't think you can survive on your own, not happily anyway." She shot him another glare but inside her head she thought it over. 'Not happily? What does that mean? Kiba, Shino…they wanted me to be happy…'

"Not happily?"

"Well you just don't seem all that happy."

"Maybe that's because I have to put up with you."

"Ouch, but you know what I mean. Come on, are you really satisfied with running all your life?"

Hinata didn't answer, running kept her from thinking. And not thinking kept her from seeing them. So was Niko right? But she couldn't keep running, she had already thought this over, and anyway where would she run to? Kiba and Shino had wanted her to live her life to the fullest. They always said to live ever day like it was your last. Had she been doing that? Her thoughts were momentarily interrupted as Niko waved his hand in front of her face.

"Mikako, earth to Mikako."

"What?"

"I'm going to start packing up. Are you coming or what?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming."

* * *

Yeah, Yeah I know it was super short and I'm sorry, really! But this was just where the chapter was suppost to end...and I was to lazy to add anything more.

And now YOU (yeah you, the one reading this) Review! While I go back to staring at my computer hoping ideas will come to me...


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, so **you must read this!**

**Hinata=Mikako**

just so you don't get confused or anything...

Yep! This is the fifth Chapter...have fun reading and review!

oh yeah...almost forgot disclaimer...

Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto...hey at least I own my house right? or well I sorta do...in a way...hehe...

* * *

"Man Mikako, you're a slave driver. Can't we take a break?"

"No. Stop being a pansy." Hinata snapped as she continued to jump from tree to tree.

"Ah, come on! We haven't even stopped for lunch."

"You're the one who set the date for reaching the snow country in week, not me."

"I was joking when I said that!" Niko began his whining again. Hinata sighed; she had just managed to make him stop a few minutes ago.

"Look Niko, shut your bloody mouth or we skip lunch."

"But-" Hinata shot him a glare and he shut his mouth. They had been traveling for only two days and Hinata was already sick of the company. Managing not only to keep moving and scan for potential danger, she had to put up with Niko's constant whining and his extremely long rest stops along with his need for three meals a day. It was outrageous! Shino and Kiba had never acted like this, sure Kiba often stopped for food but he was always ready to go as soon as he was done. Shino had never whined, well Shino had never really talked anyway and both of them kept pace relatively well. What could possibly be different about Niko that caused him to be so…different?

"Mikako, hey Mikako," Hinata's train of thought was broken by Niko's incessant whining, and he was calling her name.

"W-what?" Niko smirked, it was an evil smirk Hinata observed, and almost like he knew a secret that she didn't.

"Mikako's not your real name is it?" Hinata kept her eyes focused on what was ahead of them, 'Bastard had figured it out.' she thought to herself.

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing, nothing." There was a long awkward pause as Hinata ignored Niko.

"Are you ever going to tell me your real name?" Hinata shot him a glare (long perfected by Kiba's wish to see her underwear) that could cause hell to freeze over.

"No."

The pair reached the Snow Country on time, according to them anyway. Both looked like they hadn't showered in days, which was true, Hinata had cuts on her face and arms from tree branches and bushes. Niko had a large bluish, purple bruise on his face running from his eye to his chin from when he had recently fallen from a tree. As the two approached the country's border patrol station a tall man dressed in white and navy blue uniform, shook awake his colleague.

"Excuse me, Miss? Sir?" Hinata smiled sweetly and Niko gave a little wave.

"I assume you're the border patrol officer for the Snow Country." Niko called as the man walked towards them.

"Yes, yes I am. Sorry, but procedures says I have to ask. Are you planning on crossing the border?"

"Yes we are. Is that a problem?"

"No problem. What is the purpose of your visit?"

"We're hoping to become citizens of this fine country." Niko smiled at the man, but his eyes were cold and calculating. The man smirked.

"That's going to be a tough deal. Well, can you hand over any weapons for examination and I give them right back." Hinata and Niko exchanged a glance and began to hand over their weapons. After about thirty minutes they had gotten their weapons back and thanked the patrol officer, crossing through the gate the two waved goodbye and jumped into the trees.

"Well, that went well." Niko muttered more to himself than Hinata.

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Hmm, I don't really know. What did you think?"

"He made us give up our weapons."

"At least he gave them back." Niko answered dryly.

"Probably damaged all the tips, look at this." She said pulling out a kunai knife that had once been sharper than any weapon Niko had ever owned. Now as Niko looked at it closer, he saw that the blade was in horrible condition. It was dull and the handle had even been bent slightly.

"Did you even give him all you weapons?" Niko asked trying and failing to cover up a smirk.

"N-no, I managed to keep some from him." Hinata let a small smile show through. Niko let out a chuckle.

"I know you so well. So where'd you hide 'em Mikako?" She glared at her partner and suddenly wished she hadn't cut her hair, because now she couldn't hide behind it.

After a while they reached the first signs of a village. The border patrol officer had told them that the central village was this way. Unlike Konoha the Snow Country was ruled by a Queen by the name of Yukie Fujikaze. She had been returned to the throne after a long period of disunion about five years ago. As a matter of fact, it was Team Seven and Naruto who managed to return her to the throne. She was also an actress, though Hinata didn't know exactly how that worked into running an entire country.

As the two approached the center of town people began to stare.

"I don't like this."

"Neither do I. We really need to clean ourselves up." Niko whispered to her as more and more people began to turn around to catch a glimpse of them. A large wooden sign caught Hinata's eye. It was a sign for an inn. She tugged on Niko's shirt to get his attention and pointed toward it.

"Come on," She muttered keeping her head down as she pulled Niko toward it, the crowd parted to let them through not wanting to get any dirt on them.

"Can I help you?" A young woman behind a desk asked tentatively. Her eyes scanned over the cuts, dirt, and multiple bruises that covered the two standing before her.

"U-um, we'd like a room." Hinata's voice was barely more than a whisper. All the staring was getting to her.

"One bed?"

"No!"

"No way! We need two beds!" The woman behind the counter jumped at the sudden reaction.

"Please, we need two beds." Niko said slightly out of breath, he leaned over on the woman's desk.

"I can't stand to another minute of this woman's company." He gave a charming smile and woman blushed. Hinata shook her head, 'Dobe.' She thought as she elbowed Niko in the stomach.

"See what I mean!" Niko whined to the woman.

"Niko, I thought you would have realized by now, women don't like men who whine." Hinata smirked as the woman eyed Niko with uncertainty for a moment.

"Yes well, room twenty-five is available. Here's your key. And yes it has two beds." She said answering the question that was on the tip of both their tongues. Niko shot the woman a final charming smile as they walked toward the stairs.

"I get to shower first." Hinata stated.

"What? Why you?" Hinata just smiled.

"Ladies first." Niko scrunched up his nose and stuck his tongue out.

"You're such a child Niko." Hinata laughed as he made another face.

"While if you get to shower first, then you have to lets us go out to dinner." Hinata smiled

"Sure Niko, whatever you want, as long as I get to shower." She saw his smiling face as the bathroom door closed. Stepping into the shower Hinata finally began to feel her muscles relax. 'Ah, this feels good.' She thought. While Niko showered Hinata did laundry, their clothes weren't in the best condition but, they didn't have any others so it would have to do.

"No where fancy though, we haven't got the clothes for it." Hinata complained when Niko pointed out an uptown looking place.

"Ah come on! As long as we give a good tip no one cares." Hinata glanced at her clothes; they were what she had always worn, baggy black pants and a navy and cream colored hoodie. Good for work, bad for restaurants and dates.

"I need to go shopping." She muttered to herself as Niko dragged her into the restaurant.

"Didn't take you for shopping kind of girl."

"All girls are shopping girls." Hinata replied running her hand through her hair.

"Oh really? I always wondered about that."

"Look at me though! I look horrible, my hair…" Hinata trailed off as she ran her hand through her hair again.

"Oh stop being so self conscious. It's getting annoying."

"What do you mean by annoying? You're the annoying one." He smirked.

'That's what you think." Hinata rolled her eyes, dinner continued like this for the rest of the evening, both of them issuing harmless threats at each other. Finally being clean and properly fed, knowing that you had a warm bed to go back to, it seemed to change a person. Niko's smile seemed brighter, his eyes more lively, his face looked different in the dimmed lighting. Hinata let a sad smile come across her face as Niko rambled on about the difference in wearing blue and green. Here was a person who could be happy; Niko didn't need much to smile. Hinata on the other hand needed a lot. And what she needed…she didn't think she could ever get back.

Dark black clouds had fallen over the village as Hinata and Niko walked back to the inn. Niko ever so slightly drunk and Hinata had to steer him in the right direction every now and then. Once they were back in their room Niko fell asleep almost instantly, still completely dressed. Hinata stared as he began to snore; finally climbing into bed herself she closed her eyes.

The darkness closed in around her and she was right back where she always went when her eyes closed. The bullets rained down and the sweat dripped from her brow. Her legs pumped and her muscles burned. She ran for her life as she stared into Kiba's eyes. His face contorted in agony as he fell to the ground. She could see her reflection in Shino's glasses as blood pooled around his body. She could hear their calls, their final goodbye and she awoke. Tears wet her face and her breathing fast and shallow. In the other bed Niko mumbled something in his sleep. Hinata rolled over to face the wall as she cried silently. She cried until she had no tears left and a tortured sleep found her again.

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Okay...so I really didn't like have to edit this chapter and I made a lot, and I mean **a lot** of mistakes sooo I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!

And please review after you done killing me or...not killing me...or watching the whole thing while laughting like an evil scientist...which ever you prefer!


	6. Chapter 6

Okay so I feel as if I have to warn you...this chapter is horrible. I wrote it at about four in the morning and most of it's crack stuff. So please forgive me and Review even if you hate it. hehe though I very much hope you won't...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto for if I did Kiba and Hinata would have hooked up long ago...

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Sitting alone in the small coffee shop Hinata stared as the rain shot down like bullets from the sky. The streets were deserted and lights in shops were dim. Her hands cupped the hot coffee. 'What am I doing' she thought. 'There's no way this will work.' In only a few short hours Hinata and Niko were scheduled to meet with the Queen and her husband for a final evaluation.

It was almost winter now, it had been Shino's favorite time of year. She remembered the first time she had seen him smile. The whole team had gone on a mission to the village hidden in the rocks; Hinata had never seen snow before, it didn't snow in the land of fire. As they began traveling that morning a few white flakes fell from the sky. One fell on Hinata's nose, she remember how surprised she was when she felt the chill run down her spine.

"It's snowing," Shino softly whispered in her ear as she reached out trying to catch a flake.

"W-what is it?" she asked him as a flake touched her finger tip before melting away. For a moment he didn't answer, he just stood in the middle of the clearing as the snow swirled around him. Then he turned to her and smiled a beautiful, pure, innocent smile.

"It's magic."

Hinata stared out at the rain, it only a few weeks it would begin to snow, she was sure of it. A chill went down her spine as she stepped out into the rain. Drops fell upon her face as she stared at the sky, 'what am I doing?'

Back in the inn Niko happily busied himself with choosing out the right outfit in which to see the queen. He had gone shopping with Mikako a few weeks ago, but he hadn't bought anything that he thought was fit wear in the presence of royalty. 'Oh well, it's too late to go shopping now.' Finally he decided to just wear a plain button up shirt and his black pants. 'It'll have to do.' He thought glancing at the rest of his clothes. 'Ah, I'd better shower too,' he sniffed his armpits and recoiled in surprise. 'I definitely need to shower.' It was early winter and a chill seem to have settled on the village. Gray skies and rain was all the scenery that Niko saw anymore. He stripped own and felt the cold tile under his bare feet, as he turned on the hot water. Steam covered the mirror, letting the hot water run over his body Niko closed his eyes. 'This is the life' He let a soft smile grace his face as he remembered a private joke from long ago. Finally clean, Niko made sure to shave the stubble from his face and put on deodorant so as not to have a repeat of the incident that happened last time. Closing the bathroom door he jumped as he saw Mikako dripping water on the hardwood floor in front of him.

"Shit, what happened to you?" She gave him an icy glare.

"It's raining outside. Make sure you bring an umbrella." She brushed past him into the bathroom, shortly after he heard the shower starting up. 'Mikako,' he saw the clothes she had laid out on the bed, simple black jeans, a dark red tank top with a white sweater to go over it. 'What goes on in your mind Mikako?' his eyes fell on her nightstand. 'What could be going on in your head that makes you like this?' Everything she owned was neatly packed; her weapons case was set next to her pillow within easy reach. She could leave any second, just get up and walk out right now. 'Why do you have to think like that?' Niko flinched as the bathroom door closed with a slam and Mikako walked over to him.

"You okay?" She asked without looking at him. Dressed in only a towel she gathered up her clothes and began to get dressed.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine." Niko turned back to his own clothes and began getting dressed himself. He checked his watch.

"We only have thirty minutes, we should probably get going." Mikako didn't look up, just continued fixing her hair, when she finished she walked out the door, only stopping when she realized Niko wasn't behind her.

"Coming?" her voice was cold, emotionless. 'Maybe it was nerves' he thought, 'maybe that's why she's acting like this,' still he followed her downstairs grabbing the umbrella as he went. The rain had stopped to only a few small drops here and there. The two walked in silence down the still abandoned street. Slowly they approached the large mansion; standing on either side of the large metal gates were the Kings personal guards. After Niko showed them a small slip of paper they were waved through. Once inside the mansion Niko glanced down at Mikako, her face was blank, all of a sudden her eyes slowly met his sending a chill through his body.

"What?" She asked. Niko shook his head,

"It's nothing." But she was already walking towards the large wooden doors; hurrying to catch up Niko pushed the doors open.

"Ah! Right on time!" The woman Niko assumed was Queen Fujikaze, sat at the head of a large wooden table, a large, unshaven man sat off to her side.

"Please sit down, sit down." The Queen got to her feet and seemed to flutter around Niko and Mikako.

"Here are your seats!" She smiled a cheerful smile seemingly oblivious to Mikako's cold demeanor.

"So Iwoa, did you want to start?" The queen asked of her companion who Niko could only guess was her husband. Apparently it was an arranged marriage, for Niko marveled at the man's ability to ignore his wife. With Iwoa it was a standard interrogation, he asked where they were from, why they had chosen the Snow Country over others. All standard questions to which Mikako had spun a web of lies which both of them had already memorized. Finally after what seemed like infinity, the questions stopped and the queen fixed them both in her sight.

"So you're brother and sister right?" Both nodded their heads simultaneously.

"Tell me what life was like at home?" For the first time Niko was speechless, Mikako hadn't prepared him for this. He glanced over at her, her lips barely moved as she whispered to him.

"Make it up, I'll go along."

"You know whispering strains your vocal chords." The queen said from across the table, her eyes had a steely glint to them Niko didn't like.

"And you two have yet to answer the question. 'Here goes nothing' Niko thought.

"Well, our childhood was very traumatic. We try not to think about it." Mikako nodded in agreement.

"Please explain."

"Ah…well…" Words seemed to fail him, 'right when I need them too,' He thought 'and here comes the bullshit.'

"Our Mother died when I was three years old, right after Mikako was born, personally I think it was because of that that our father abused us, I think he blamed us for her death."

"Oh my! That's horrible!" The queen said startled, while the King just glanced around the room as if trying to find something more interesting.

"Yes, it was very hard, and Mikako was so small back then too," The queen sent Mikako a sympathetic look, which Mikako bluntly ignored.

"And even shortly after that our father turned gay! Anyway, it was so hard to live in that house with all the memories so I took Mikako with me to live in our uncle's home, it was there that we discovered that our aunt was really our half sister and that our family had history in inbreeding." Mikako nodded and the king just rolled his eyes. 'This is pure bullshit,' he thought and glanced at his wife, who was lapping it up like dehydrated dog, 'great, just great.'

"So, when I was sixteen I was sent away to train as a ninja to make money, but unfortunately I lack talent, Mikako on the other hand showed far more potential than me, but Father wanted her to be a housewife for his new partner didn't like to clean." The queen nodded sympathetically while the King shot Niko a disdainful look. Niko let out a nervous laugh and Mikako kicked him under the table.

"Ah well anyway, I secretly trained Mikako, but eventually Father found out and he blinded her out of anger" The queen took a sharp intake of breath.

"Oh my gosh, you're blind?"

"No, in fact my sister is not blind! But I will get to that later!" Niko said triumphantly, he was obviously enjoying all the attention.

"So when I was eighteen, my father tried to marry me to Mikako, we really can't stand each other normally, but having to share a bed was just too much!" This time the king was the one to nod sympathetically, while the Queen looked slightly confused.

"Well, I decided to take Mikako and run away, she's my little sister, I just couldn't leave her, no matter how annoying she is." He said ruffling Mikako's hair; she in turn kicked him in the shins again.

"Oww…Yes, back to the story. Anyway, we traveled to a witch doctor that magically cured my sister's sight, even though her eyes remained white still; she's got contacts for that! Then we realized that it would be best if could have a permanent home and we both love the snow so we thought we try it here!" Niko let out a long breath and smiled at Mikako. She gave him a small smile back and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"That was shit." Niko let out a chuckle.

"You gave me permission to make it up. What did you expect?" Mikako smile at this and turned back to the queen who was smiling at them.

"You know what? That story was crap and you know it, but it was entertaining. You two are funny. I think I'll keep you around, so just sign a few of these documents and you are officially citizens! Congrats!" The queen was fluttering around them again while the King on the other hand looked rather murderous. Mikako turned to Niko,

"Your shitty story did it." She whispered and kissed him on the cheek. Niko smiled and returned the hug as the Queen passed the papers over to them. One copy each, Mikako and Niko signed their papers and left the mansion as official citizens of the Snow Country.

Back at the inn Hinata couldn't help but smile. They had managed it. Niko that dobe, had gotten them in, she smiled. 'Inbreeding families and stupid witch doctors, it's a good thing the Queen is easily entertained.' She thought to herself, then realized something,

"Niko, how did you know about my eyes?"

"Come on Mikako, you always take the contacts off at night, I was sure to catch a glimpse or something. So do they do anything special? Cause you sure as hell not blind." Hinata smiled, he was right, she would have let it slip eventually.

"No, I just was born with white eyes I guess. Nothing special about them," She smiled,

"They just creep people out."

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Alrighty people...do your job and review...PLEASE!


	7. Chapter 7

So...next chapter...read and review. I hope this is better than the last one...which sucked by the way...Have fun! ^_^

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...I wish I did, but I don't.

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Four months had passed. To Hinata, it seemed almost timeless. It was like a river, time just keep flowing by, while all she did was stand on the banks. Niko on the other hand had done something in those four months. Realizing that he was literally useless as ninja, he decided to try culinary instead. By some weird streak of luck it turned out that Niko was a genius, a prodigy at culinary arts. Within weeks he was top chef in the Queen's kitchen and made more money than Hinata had ever made in her life. At first she was slightly jealous, but then Niko pointed out that with his income, she really didn't need to work. Not working didn't work out so well though. Finding herself alone, every day, every night, with nothing to do. It wasn't good, Hinata could almost feel her mental state deteriorating, the dreams and nightmares got worse. Even during the day now, she would remember things, something Shino said, something Kiba did. It was horrible, sitting alone in room full of unfamiliar things. She would have been married right now, back in Konoha. She would probably be sitting with Neji eating lunch or something. 'Is this any better?' Hinata thought. There was a knock on the door.

"Hello, hello! I have big news!" Niko strutted into the room, a large smile plastered to his face.

"Hmm? What is it?" Hinata smiled, Niko's childish antics always took her mind off matters.

"You have to guess!" Hinata rolled her eyes, 'No matter how much money he makes, he is still a Dobe.'

"Umm, I don't know. Did you get a girlfriend?"

"Huh? No…" Niko's face fell and he stared off into space for a moment.

"Niko, hey? So what's your news?" He snapped out of his daydream.

"Ah! I bought us a house!" For a moment Hinata thought she had misheard him.

"A-A house?" Niko nodded searching her face for any emotions.

"Niko, you didn't have to. You shouldn't have done that." Hinata's hair fell about her face; it grew quickly and already reached her eyebrows. Niko smiled softly at her.

"I wanted to, and besides, you and I both know that sharing a room wasn't working."

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that logic." Both of them exchanged smile and a quick glance. Having to share a room with Niko had been hell, and both of them had realized this. So far they had been living in an extremely small apartment; it only had one bedroom and one bathroom. The kitchen and living room were connected and rather small as well.

"I got to get back to work, but I thought you might benefit from the news. We can start packing up when I get off later, okay?" Niko gave a small wave as he walked out the door. Hinata glanced around, 'Niko had bought a house, damn.' There wasn't much in apartment, that either one owned. All the furniture in the place was theirs but; there was only a small table and chairs, the mattress in the bedroom. 'Maybe I'll just pack up for Niko.' She glanced around again. 'It's not like there's much to do.'

And so Hinata wandered out of the apartment, and into the street looking for a place that sold boxes and packing tape. Amazingly it was much harder to find boxes and tape then it might seem, but after an hour Hinata had gathered all the boxes and tape she might possibly need. Truthfully she figured she was covered with boxes in case she needed to move five more times. Getting back to their apartment took longer than she had thought, it was rush hour and the streets were full of people. Even though she lost quite a lot of time shopping and navigating the streets Hinata realize she could make up for by simply packing. Even with her and Niko's stuff combined it only took fifty minutes. Hinata smiled as she put the last label on the last box.

"Done!" she flopped down of the floor. 'I wish I had left some pillows out, then I could take a nap.' Hinata thought, as she sighed and stretched out on the floor. Next thing she knew, she was asleep, shopping and packing was exhausting.

"Hey Mikako, Mikako," Niko gentle shook his friend awake.

"Did, did I fall asleep?" Hinata rubbed her eyes, and looked at him.

"Yeah, you did. Do you do all this packing yourself?" Niko's blue eyes were smiling; the small little wrinkles around his eyes were showing.

"I-I wanted to surprise you. You're always working so hard now. I wanted to surprise you…" Hinata drifted off to sleep again. Niko smiled; for once he didn't see a trace of fear on her face as she slept. Gently picking her up bridal style Niko carried her out of the apartment and all the way to the new house. Furniture came with the house and he gently laid her down on the sofa. There were three bedrooms in the house but he wasn't sure which one she wanted. She rolled over and muttered something in her sleep.

"What was that Mikako?"

"I-I'm gonna get that pancake…" Niko let out chuckle.

"Pancakes are what were having for dinner then I guess." He said to himself as he began to cook up batter in the kitchen. He had made sure the kitchen was fully stocked right after he bought the house.

Hinata stirred, she smelled something cooking. Something good. Opening her eyes she studied her surroundings. 'This wasn't the apartment, oh, wait. Niko bought a house.' Hinata sat back and relaxed.

"Niko, what are you doing?" The head of shaggy black hair in the Kitchen turned.

"You're awake! Why I'm making pancakes!" Hinata smiled, pancakes, she had been dreaming about pancakes.

"How did you know?" He smirked at her.

"Lucky guess." He turned back to his cooking while Hinata got up to inspect the house. 'Wait, I had been dreaming, I dreamt about pancakes.' Hinata splashed some water on her face in the bathroom. 'I didn't even see Kiba and Shino once,' That's when the idea started to dorm in Hinata's mind, if she could just make herself so exhausted that she had to fall asleep then the dreams would come.

At first she tried getting a job, despite Niko pointing out that she really didn't have to she insisted. After a few days Hinata had secured a job as a secretary for the Queen's social events. It was a boring job, all Hinata did was answer phone calls and make appointments. She was good at it, all the work she had done for her father when she was younger seemed to pay off. It didn't always work out though, after a while she got better at what she did. She finished work faster, and it got easier. When it was easy, she did have to try as hard. When she didn't try, the dreams came back. But she found a cure for the dreams once again, one day after work a few other girls asked her to come to the gym with them.

"Wow Mikako, that's amazing! I couldn't even do that, and I've been working out for years!" Hinata smiled, she had been running on the tread meal for an hour, really running. All she had to do was think about her life before, when she ran until she passed out. 'Compared to that, this is easy.' She thought to herself and laughed. A few weeks passed and Hinata quit her job, it didn't help, it was only a waste of time. Instead she started working out, going to the gym, running.

The day Kiba and Shino died, Hinata had always wondered why. Why had they given up their lives for her? She was weak, useless, a liability; all she ever did was get in the way. Why would anyone give up their life for her? She had tried countless times to improve her skills, to become someone her father could be proud of, but something always happened. Maybe she would give up, maybe her cousin would send her to the emergency room, and maybe she would take a blow for someone she loved. Something always happened that caused her to look at the bigger picture instead, focusing on her training. Now she had nothing to focus on but her training. Before she had wanted to improved herself so that she could finally make her father proud, so that her friends didn't have to be embarrassed by her anymore. Now she was doing this for herself, well really so that she wouldn't end up going crazy from all the memories. She was doing it to forget, to erase all traces of her old life.

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Please review people! I need to know if this sucks or not!


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, so i must tell you this is like a miny time skip and it is now two years after the first chapter...kay? Review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Too bad right?

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Hinata glanced at the clock. 'Almost midnight, still time for a run.' She sat down on the couch and began to lace up her shoes. Suddenly she heard the key click in the lock and the front door opened.

"And this is where I live," She heard Niko's slurred words only seconds before he appeared. A giggling blond with rather large chest clutched his arm.

"And this is my sister, and here's the bedroom…" The girl let out another obnoxious laugh and pulled him into the room. Niko gave a crocked smiled and a salute before closing the door in Hinata's face. Sniffing the air, and smelling alcohol in Niko's wake, Hinata decided that she wanted to go for a longer run than she had earlier planned.

She liked to run in the dark, it didn't bother her, if it was pitch black she just activated her byakugan. But most of the time the nights were clear and cold and the moon shed enough light for her to get by. In the day, people were always milling about, getting in the way, wanting to stop and chat. At night the streets were deserted, the forest was alive with animals, and everything was how it should be. It was almost as if humans had never touched the place. Her breath gathered in small clouds of white in front of her face as she struggled up a hill.

She sprinted along the trail not even daring to look down. By now she knew all the trails by heart, as she rounded a turn she gave a sudden burst of speed in order to make it up the hill she knew was there. Stopping at the top panting she placed her fingers on the inside of her wrist, feeling her pulse racing under her skin. She was on the edge of the forest now and she had a view of the village, a few lights were on in the royal mansion, and she could see the dark shapes of people moving around inside. The queen was holding a party tonight she remembered. Niko had been raving about it all week; he had to oversee the catering for the entire mess. 'Probably where he met the Barbie.' She scoffed, 'Niko, god that was the second girl he had brought back this week. He's probably slept with half the village by now.'

Pushing a few lose strands of hair behind her ears, she turned and started up a slow jog again. As she did she passed the King's training grounds. He had this strange idea to make up an army that was half military, half badly trained ninjas. 'It always was a stupid decision,' Hinata thought as she glanced over the training grounds. 'Though, maybe I should try taking on some missions again, I'm in better shape than I've ever been, and I could show those army guys a thing or two.' She smiled, 'Even before when I was in Konoha I could have beaten those men.' She wiped the sweat from her brow, and turned off onto a different trail.

It was almost one thirty in the morning now and the sun was just beginning to show over the mountains icy tops. She had doubled back and was now looking out over the town again. Sinking to the ground, Hinata gazed at the sunrise. Warm pinks and ranges filled the sky melting into the blues and purples and greens of the night.

"_Hey Hinata!" I turned around, to find Kiba sprinting toward me. _

"_W-what is it Kiba-kun?" I asked startled. He didn't answer me, but instead scooped me up in his arms bridal style._

"_Kiba-kun!" I could feel me face heating up, and I knew I was bright red. He still didn't say anything, but continued running up the hill._

"_Look!" He pointed accusingly to the sky. I looked. The sunrise filled the sky, all the colors mixing together, the golden light shown on his face as he smiled down at me. _

"_Look at the sunrise Hinata-chan."_

'The sunrise looks just as it did with Kiba,' she thought gazing out over the village. Glancing at her watch she picked herself up and dusted the dirt off of her clothes. 'Almost time for the restaurant people to be getting up, I'd better hurry home.' Starting up again slightly faster than she had been running before Hinata dashed off to the fastest trail home. Just as she was getting close to the village again she felt her foot catch on something. She threw her hands out in front of her to break her fall, tumbling down the slight grade Hinata rolled to a stop sprawled on the ground.

"Ahhh, shit." She muttered to herself before she passed out.

"Hey lady, lady wake up please." Hinata stirred on the ground. 'Neji-nii-san, I told him to stop calling me Lady Hinata ages ago.'

"Come on lady. Wake up, it's alright now." She stirred again as a pair of strong arms lifted her up, 'Neji, why is he carrying me? He knows I hate to be carried.'

"Neji…put me down…" Her voice was soft and muffled by his chest.

"My names not Neji, its Kenji, but you don't need to worry about that now okay? You're safe with me." Hinata felt a sharp pain in her head for a moment. Forcing her eyes open for a moment she saw a flicker of a face. Warm brown skin and a strong jaw. 'Kind eyes, he has kind eyes.' She thought for a moment before she blacked out again.

'Oww, my head.' Hinata placed her fingers to her temples, she had a splitting headache. Opening her eyes she looked around, it was dark and it took a moment before she could make anything out. 'Where am I?' She wondered before the night events came back to her. She heard the squeak of a door and footsteps before the lights were turned on.

"Ahh..." Hinata quickly closed her eyes; the light was blinding making the world red for a minute before she adjusted. Now finally able to see her surroundings she looked about. She was laying on a couch in what seemed to be the living room of a small apartment much like the one she and Niko had lived in before Niko bought the house.

"Oh, sorry about the lights. Forgot." Hinata turned toward the source of the voice, a man stood in the doorway dressed in only a fluffy towel, his tan skin and face contrasting with the shock on black hair on his head. He shook some of his hair out of his eyes and smiled at her.

"Sorry, I just took a shower, how are you doing?"

"I'm…okay I guess." She rubbed her temples again and this time he picked up on it.

"Do you have a headache?"

"Mmm, a little one, nothing to worry about." An uncomfortable silence fell between them. "Excuse me, but who are you?" He smiled at her.

"Kenji Nakamaru, I'm a…a…student here." He tilted his head for moment examining her. "And what might your name be?"

"Mi-Mikako Ano. I-I…my brother works here." Hinata closed her eyes for a moment. That was the first time since she assumed her that name that she had ever had a slip of the tongue. He smiled at her almost pityingly.

"What were you doing in the middle of the woods at two in the morning?"

"I could ask you the same the same thing."

"I went for a run."

"At two in the morning?"

"Is that a problem?" He laughed a loud carefree sound.

"No problem at all." Hinata smiled.

"My turn. What were you doing at two in the morning in the middle of the forest?"

"Looking for you."

"What?" The surprise must have showed on her face.

"Yes, strange isn't it. I've been working up the courage to try to talk to you for days, and then I finally find you and your unconscious."

"And why would you want to talk to me?" He didn't answer and Hinata began to repeat the question before he spoke.

"I want you to train me." She narrowed her eyes.

"Train you?"

"I've been watching you, you're amazing. You're stronger, faster, and smarter than anyone I seen…" He rambled on. 'If he goes on like this my head will explode,' Hinata thought watching him pace back and forth spouting out facts about how amazing she was. 'God he makes it sound as if I'm a goddess or something...'

"How old are you Kenji?" He looked up surprised.

"Eighteen, I turn nineteen in two weeks, why?" Hinata smiled and didn't answer, 'I'm twenty two, and he's only a year older than Hinabi.'

"Why do you want me to train you?"

"Because I want to be the best." Hinata knit her brow for a moment.

"The best at what?"

"The army. As soon as I turn nineteen I'm going to enlist."

"The King's army is shit you know that."

"Exactly why I need you!" He seemed triumphant. "If I enlist, sure I learn some new moves but nothing will change, if you train me…then I could turn out being the best. I would rise through the ranks faster than anyone before."

"Why would I want to train you?" He glanced at Hinata and quickly looked away.

"Because you're bored, and you have nothing better to do hopefully." Staring at him, Hinata realized he was right; she had nothing better to do. Kenji insisted on cleaning her up at his place. She had dirt and blood on her clothes so she washed them and showered before he walked her home. 'It's strange, someone the age of my sister is trying to protect me and learn from me at the same time.' She laughed out loud when she realized this on her way home and Kenji gave her a confused look. 'Hinabi would rather die then have me as a teacher, but then again she was far more advanced than me back then.' Hinata snuck a glance at Kenji, he didn't look so young. He was actually rather handsome, smooth tan skin and long dark hair. His body was well developed and he already had fairly well developed skills. He was trying to mask his chakra signature and doing a fairly good job of it for not having any proper training. 'There is no way I would have been able to do that on my own four years ago.'

She stopped him once they got to door step of her house by placing her hand on his chest and Hinata turned to face him. Smiling softly she gently lifted his t-shirt up above his stomach. Her delicate pale fingers traced circles around his belly button.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Focus on the feeling."

"M-Mikako?"

"Think about the feeling and try to focus your chakra." She smiled again as he bit his tongue in concentration.

"It helps to close your eyes." Hinata whispered. His eyes closed and after a few moments she felt his chakra signature lessen.

"Oh." He sounded surprised as he opened his eyes, and she felt his chakra signature rise again.

"That was…amazing, I've been trying to get that for years."

"Funny how it works isn't it?" He nodded; he looked rather shaken up by it all.

"My old sensei told me once that you can raise you eyebrows instead of closing your eyes, but then you look like a freak." He laughed.

"I'll have to try that."

"So…wendsay at two? Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, see you then…" He scratched his head for a moment then leaned over. For a moment his warm breath tickled her face then he planted his lips firmly onto hers opening them slightly and letting his tongue slip in. Hinata froze for a moment then feeling a surge of adrenaline kissed with just as much passion running her tongue along his teeth. After a moment they broke apart and Kenji smiled.

"I can't wait…" He whispered in her ear before turning and walking away down the path.

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Hehe...I'm not really sure if Kenji is an important character or not yet, but I have a feeling he is...Review please!


	9. Chapter 9

Okay so I made it to chapter nine, I must say I have worked my ass off and I'm sorry it took so long...Review!

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

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Hinata stood routed to the spot until he was out of view. 'He kissed me…' all of a sudden her headache kicked in again. Stumbling into the house she saw Niko in the kitchen.

"Hey Miko, where have you been?"

"Went for a run."

"All day?"

"Hmm, sorry what were you saying?" Niko just shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. Here." He placed a bowl of beef ramen in front of her. "Breakfast." Smiling Hinata gratefully took the bowl.

"Hope it's good, I got to get to work."

"What? You're not going to stay and eat?"

"No, I made it for you, but you just up and left."

"I'm sorry. I got caught up in something,"

"Yeah, well I never see you anymore." Hinata lapsed into silence. 'Not to mention that you stay up until four in the morning fucking.' She thought but kept her mouth shut. Niko took one glance at her face and turned away.

"Why don't you trust me?" He yelled spinning around to face her. "Why won't you tell me what's wrong!"

"Nothing is wrong Niko." Hinata spilled some of her ramen on the counter, 'What brought this on?' she wondered.

"Nothing is wrong? Oh really? Then please explain to me why you cry in your sleep, or why you lock yourself in your room for days on end only to leave to go work yourself to near death! Can you explain any of that Mikako?"

"Why do you have to go poking around in my life? Can't you just leave me alone?"

"No I can't, because I've lived with you for the past two years! You're like family to me! You are my family!"

"Niko, I'm fine." Hinata said exhausted. "Besides, don't you have to go to work?"

"They won't care if I'm late for once. Mikako…look anyone in their right mind can see that something is wrong, you're depressed or something, please can't you just tell me? There probably people that have know you all your life, people that know you inside and out, they could probably tell what's wrong in a second, but there not here right now. I'm here, and I want to help you, please." Niko's blues eyes seemed to penetrate her mind.

"Niko…"

"Just tell me what's wrong…"

"What's wrong? What do you think is fucking wrong?" Hinata was getting worked up. All the feelings she had never let out had been building up inside her. "You said that there were people who knew me inside and out, yeah well not anymore! My friends were killed and I ran away like a fucking coward!"

Tears began flowing out of her eyes. She had never told anyone what happened, not a single person for two years and now she was about to go spilling her guts.

"Do you know how it feels, to know you could have saved them, but instead you ran away to save your own life? Do you know how it feels to never be able to see them again?" She tried to control the shakes that were racking her body, tried to stop the sobbing. "I messed up and they paid the price. They were better than me, they were some of the best ninjas I've ever known and now their dead because I couldn't save them. Because I fucked it all up!" And finally she realized that it was useless to keep it all pent up, she was sobbing uncontrollably and the tears were streaming, her nose was running and she was a mess.

"Oh Mikako…" He held her in his arms until her tears stopped. "You're going to be okay," He rocked her back and forth for a moment longer all the time whispering "You're going to be okay."

"I-I should clean up the ramen." Her voice was shaky but Hinata peeled herself off Niko and started to clean up the kitchen.

"Niko, you're late for work."

"I don't think they'll mind if I take a day off for once…"

"It's okay; I'm going to be fine. Go to work, you know you want to." She smiled at him and nodded toward the door, her eyes were red and bloodshot but the tears had stopped, for now anyway.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go have fun cooking whatever it is that you cook…" He kissed her on the cheek and grabbed his coat before taking one last look at Hinata as she scrubbed the kitchen before walking out the door.

Hinata watched as the door locked shut and then hurried to the bathroom. Staring at her face in the mirror she shook her hair out so that it fell around her shoulders. 'I wouldn't even recognize me anymore.' She thought. Her eyes were red and hollow looking from crying and lack of sleep. Hinata's long blue black hair was unkempt and brittle falling in long tangles around her. She splashed some cold water on her face, being too tired to take a shower. Wandering into her bedroom Hinata caught sight of the calendar Niko had given her and did a double take. 'January 30th,' She thought, 'exactly two years have passed since they died, how could I have missed it?' Shaking her head she lifted up her mattress and propped it against the wall, kneeling down she wiggled the loose floorboard under her bed up and examined the small metal safe she had installed under it. Quickly dialing in the combination she pulled it open, despite never being used it opened easily.

Inside was a small wooden box which Hinata carefully lifted out. Opening the box she gently fingered the diamond necklace Kiba had given her for her eighteenth birthday, the day she was supposed to become head of the Hyuga clan. The day her father decided that she couldn't lead the clan properly without a spouse. Smiling she unclasped the necklace and put it on admiring the beauty. Next she took out a small pocket knife, a kind of Swiss army knife for all occasions that Shino had given her on their one year anniversary. 'Shino gave practical gifts while Kiba gave beautiful gifts,' Hinata smiled as she ran her fingers over the engraving. '_Together forever_. Shino was always a good liar.' A small tear fell and landed on the last item in the box, 'Hmm, seems like I have an unlimited supply of tears today.' Hinata's pale fingers gently wiped the tear off the photo.

'Team eight before we even knew there were teams.' Hinata thought and smiled. It was an old photograph of the three of them in the park from when they were eight years old. They had all gotten ice cream cones that day. 'Kiba got chocolate, Shino got vanilla and I got strawberry.' She studied the picture and saw the remains of an ice cream cone on Kiba's shirt. 'Kiba had the smart idea to try and make Neapolitan ice cream out of our cones.' A half laugh half sob escaped her throat and she gently placed the photo back in the box along with the knife. Unclasping the necklace she placed it in box as well and closed the safe and replaced the floor board and her mattress.

"I wish you guys were here today, I wish you could see how far I've come. I'm training my own student now. I know you'd be proud." Hinata wiped a final tear from her face and turned out the light.

"I miss you guys." She whispered softly before falling asleep.

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Please review! Hope you liked it!


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